The present invention relates to a plate inserting apparatus for inserting a new plate into the plate cylinder of a printing press.
A plate inserting apparatus of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-80041. The plate inserting apparatus disclosed in this reference has a plate holding device for holding a new plate to be fed to a plate cylinder, and a guide device for positioning the new plate fed from the plate holding device and guiding it to the plate cylinder. In the conventional plate inserting apparatus, after the plate holding device moves by a swing motion to a plate feed position where the new plate can be fed to the plate cylinder, the guide device moves to a guide position by a swing motion, and the new plate is fed to the plate cylinder through the guide device.
In the conventional plate inserting apparatus described above, the guide device for positioning the new plate before inserting it to the plate cylinder is provided separately of the plate holding device, and the guide device is provided between the plate holding device and plate cylinder. When mounting the new plate on the plate cylinder, the new plate must be positioned at a plate inserting position by driving the guide device and plate holding device separately. Consequently, the number of air cylinders and the like serving as the driving sources increases. This increases the manufacturing cost, and interferes with downsizing of the entire apparatus.
When the plate becomes large, the diameter of the plate cylinder in the printing unit does not increase in proportion to the size increase of the plate, and the outer shape of the inking device or the like does not increase. Hence, the outer shape of the printing unit itself does not increase. Therefore, in the conventional plate inserting apparatus, when the plate becomes large, the space for installing the guide device runs short, and the plate size increase cannot be coped with.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a plate inserting apparatus that is downsized.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a plate inserting apparatus that can cope with an increase in size of a plate.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a plate inserting apparatus comprising a loader for holding a new plate inserted in a lateral direction and feeding the new plate to a plate cylinder, a first regulating member for regulating a position of one side edge of the new plate inserted in the loader, a second regulating member for regulating a position of the other side edge of the new plate inserted in the loader, thus positioning the new plate in a widthwise direction in cooperation with the first regulating member, and first moving means for moving the new plate inserted in the loader in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plate surface, thus accommodating the new plate between the first and second regulating members.